In 'The Division,' stealing stuff from other players is just one piece of the endgame

The game's "Dark Zone" is a large, freely explorable chunk of midtown Manhattan that's been walled off due to heavy contamination. Players have the option of venturing into this untamed space that's populated by other players, all searching for some of the game's sweetest loot.

Let's back up. The Division is Ubisoft's next big Tom Clancy game. It's an action-RPG set in a near-future version of a quarantined, lawless midtown Manhattan.

The city was devastated by a smallpox outbreak that started with dirty money changing hands during the Black Friday shopping blitz. So the government activated the Division, a secret organization of sleeper soldiers that can work independently to restore order when laws fall by the wayside.

Image: Ubisoft Massive

That's what brings you and your many guns to the rotten core of the Big Apple. The RPG side of The Division has a lot in common with the classic Diablo series, right down to loot that's color-coded according to its rarity. And the Dark Zone is where you get some of the best gear.

"There's definitely parallels to the story as a whole [in the Dark Zone]," says Ubisoft Massive creative director Magnus Jansen. "How absolute power corrupts absolutely, and how this idea of giving people this tremendous mandate and power in a lawless land — there's a dark side to that."

The Dark Zone is meant to deliver a playable manifestation of the greed that empowered Division soldiers might feel. It's a free-for-all space where your bullets hurt other players as well as AI-controlled enemies. And since the whole area is contaminated, any gear you collect needs to be extracted by helicopter and cleaned.

It's easy to spot those carrying unclean Dark Zone gear thanks to the large, yellow hazmat bags that dangle from backpacks. If you take out someone carrying one of those bags, you can collect their contaminated stuff for yourself. And since calling in a chopper for hazmat extraction alerts everyone in the vicinity, trying to get away with your loot also makes you — and others — a target.

"To have the players be able to feel that same corruption ... is something I'm very proud of," Jansen says. "The way we can have this ludonarrative resonance between the story and the actual feeling you have as a gamer when you get corrupted in the Dark Zone."

The chunk of midtown the Dark Zone covers spans a significant north-south stretch of land below Central Park. It's a walled off area and completely optional, with the difficulty — and quality of the loot — increasing as you venture north. Then, once you reach the level 30 cap, the Dark Zone re-invents itself.

"Once you hit level 30, the max level, we create a new instance of it, so players will be entering into this all new Dark Zone," Jansen says. "[It] starts at 30 ... this whole new, repopulated Dark Zone, basically."

For fans of games like Diablo III and Destiny, news of The Division having a well-developed endgame should be great news. Games that focus on a loot grind practically need it. You've amassed an impressive pile of gear by the time the story ends, and endgame content provides a way to use it.

Image: Ubisoft Massive

The Dark Zone is just one piece of that endgame. Jansen isn't quite ready to share specifics, but players that prefer to avoid the stress of someone else stealing their stuff will have options.

"We have a tremendous amount of effort and focus on the PvE endgame as well," Jansen says. "Not all of it is going to be there when we launch. We're slowly going to be rolling it out for free in the beginning.

"Rest assured, there's PvE endgame for you, and there's going to be goals and challenges and things to aspire to for you and your group. Difficult things that you really want to set your sights on and accomplish."

One thing Jansen happily confirms: there won't be any "pay-to-win" microtransactions.

"We will sell more stuff for you to do in the game in the form of [downloadable content], but there won't be a pay-to-win or a pay-to-get-better-gear or pay-to-get-more-Dark-Zone-credit," he says.

"You can buy a pack of completely cosmetic items to make you look awesome. That you will be able to do, but that's not how I define microtransactions. We don't have it, I'm very pleased to say."

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